hey angel girl
by Neon Genesis
Summary: Birthday!fic for Missa. AU. In the five minutes between classes, Sasuke and Sakura walk together and discuss Starbucks, the Plain White T's, and Sasuke's Mafia connections. SasuSaku. Oneshot.


Happy birthday, Missa!

--

**hey angel girl**

Sakura, Sasuke knows, dreams of fairies and princesses and happily-ever-afters; angels and fairytales and smiling cartoon suns.

Sasuke lost the ability to dream for himself long ago, lost it to tragedy and death and _never ever good enough_. Now that he is seventeen—not quite grown and not quite an adult but almostalmostalmost—he dreams for her.

_(hey angel girl, let me light up the sky for you)_

He dreams for her happiness and her safety, for her eyes to always be green and her cartoon suns to always be obnoxiously yellow. He hopes for her to one day find someone she loves as much as he loves her. He wishes for her to always be able to watch the sunsets, to look at the stars that she marvels at.

_(hey angel girl, everything is brighter against a dark canvas)_

"Sasuke-kun, Sasuke-kun—what're you thinking about?" Sakura is in front of him, peering at his blank face curiously. She is wearing too-long basketball pants that she borrowed from Tenten and her hair hangs haphazardly around her face, all split-ends and flyaway strands. This girl is endearingly flawed, but she is also chewing an absurdly large mass of bubble gum.

"You look like a cow when you chew that," Sasuke points out snidely, the fondness in his tone apparent only to Sakura.

She grins at him cheekily, purposely exaggerating her chewing. "Do I look like a pretty cow?" she wants to know as he walks her to her next class.

_(hey angel girl, do you know that you're beautiful?)_

Sasuke rolls his sooty eyes. "Sure, we'll go with that."

She sticks her tongue out at him. "Careful there, mister, or I'll banish you to your emo corner of doom."

He snorts and somehow manages to make it sound elegant. "I'm terrified."

Sakura looks smug. "As you should be," she declares loftily before launching into a rambling tale. "Mmkay, so yesterday after school I was bored while I was waiting for you to finish track practice, so I walked over to Starbucks—"

"You left the school without telling me?" Sasuke cuts her off sternly, because _doesn't she know _that she needs him around to protect her?

_(hey angel girl, you mean the world to me)_

She waves a slender hand dismissively. "I know, I know, I'm a defenseless little girl clearly incapable of crossing the street to the pinnacle of civilization. Anyway—"

"Starbucks is _not _the pinnacle of civilization," Sasuke interjects, his hands stuffed in the pockets of his dark blue jacket as they pass by the cafeteria.

"I'm going to pretend you didn't just go there," Sakura asserts breezily. "_Anyway. _Like I said, it was boring at your practice. Also, there were a bunch of fangirls squealing and crap. When the going gets tough, the tough say 'screw it' and go to Starbucks for vanilla frapps." She pauses. "Now where was I going with this…?"

"Your memory is terrible," Sasuke smirks, reaching forward to secure a strand of Sakura's pastel hair behind her ear. She grasps his hand before he can pull away, cradling it to her face.

Sakura releases his hand after a moment, staring up at him with solemn green eyes. "That's not true." Her voice is soft and a bit timid, but honestly is evident in it. "I remember everything from when we grew up together."

_(hey angel girl, do you remember when you changed my life forever?)_

Sasuke remembers, too. He remembers hazy summer days and daffodils and sandcastles; he remembers grass-stained sneakers and chaste kisses on the cheek. He remembers when he was eight (when he found himself alone and broken and just so _sad_) and how he told her to go away go away _go away_! And he remembers how she always, always came back to him. (Persistent little twerp, that clumsy, awkward girl with the big green eyes and the cotton candy hair.)

_(hey angel girl, don't you forget about me)_

Sasuke wonders if Sakura can see the various emotions that had surfaced with his memories playing out across his face, and for a moment she says nothing, but then her hand is on his sleeve, tugging. "Sasuke-kun, will you take me to the Plain White T's concert next week?" She had never been good at changing the subject, Sasuke muses.

Sasuke frowns at her. "If it's in a week, all of the good tickets are probably sold out already."

She offers him a sunny smile. "Sasuke-kun, don't be modest. We all know that your super extra-special connections with the Mafia can get you whatever you want."

Sasuke stares at her blandly. "…You're a moron."

Her smile turns wicked. "And you're the secret love child of Al Capone!"

He shakes his head despairingly. "You're a moron," he reiterates, hoping that repetition would get across the fact that _she was a moron and what was she talking about and that's just ridiculous_. Pfft.

Sakura rolls her eyes. "We've already established that. Keep up, will you?" She tugs on his sleeve again. What a twerp. "And Sasuke-kun, you _have _to take me to the concert—I want to hear them play _Hey There Delilah_!"

He notices that one of Sakura's eyelashes has come loose and is resting on her cheek. He brushes a finger over her face and then turns his hand to show her the eyelash that clings to his finger. "Make a wish," he murmurs.

_(hey angel girl, will you wish for me, too?)_

She closes her eyes and clasps her hands together theatrically. "I wish that Sasuke-kun will use his Mafia connections to take me to the Plain White T's concert." She pauses for a moment, then adds, "Oh, and I wish that my eyelashes were as long and feminine as Sasuke-kun's."

"Oooow," she whines after her eyelash comment earned her a light smack to the back of the head. "Don't you know that it's not cool to hit girls?"

"Hn," Sasuke scoffs. Then he gives her a sidelong look. "…So you really want to go to this concert?"

_(hey angel girl, i'd do anything to make you happy)_

Sakura sees his resolve weakening and takes the opportunity to link her arm in his, tucking her head against his shoulder. "At the moment, more than I want a penguin," she informs him.

Sasuke blinks, aware that such a statement amounted to a very great desire, indeed. "I'll see what I can do," he tells her.

Sakura grins. "With your Mafia connec—"

"Sakura," he warns. "Don't push it." She pouts, so he flicks her forehead gently with his middle and index fingers before depositing her at her next class.

She doesn't immediately release his arm. "Aren't you going to tell me not to miss you?"

Sasuke shrugs carelessly. "If you want to change your name to Delilah, be my guest."

She laughs and reluctantly detaches herself from him and enters the classroom, before hesitating and glancing back at him. "Hey, you're going to help me make those posters I need for English class after track practice, yeah?"

He smirks. "Just don't run off to Starbucks again."

Sakura shrugs nonchalantly. "I make no promises," she smiles at him. "I'll see you later, 'kay?"

Sasuke nods and walks toward his own class, ready for both school and track practice to be over and reminding himself to call up a few of his _acquaintances _to see about those tickets. Because while dreaming for Sakura's happiness is all very well and good, it's usually best to act on it.

_(hey angel girl, i don't want to be without you tonight)_

* * *

So this is for Missa's birthday--because she turned seventeen today! BOW DOWN TO HER SEVENTEEN-NESS!  
This was beta-ed by the amazingly incredible **Roses of Sharon**, without whom this would be...well, let's not even go there. Many thanks.  
The prompts were: SasuSaku, daffodils, sandcastles, sunset, stars, Hey There Delilah, "I don't want to be without you tonight," and "Do you remember when you changed my life forever?" And yeah, I know I totally cheated on the quotes. I fail.  
But anyway, this whole thing was pretty weird, but I hope you like it!  
**HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MISSA!**


End file.
